Closer Than You Think
by An1m3fanf1ct10nwr1t3r
Summary: After breaking up with her boyfriend, Maddie starts getting love letters from a secret admirer. Who is it? everyone wonders. When Maddie finds out the truth, can she handle it?
1. Secret Admirer

**Disclaimer: I do not own Liv &amp; Maddie.**

The bright morning light seeped through the window sill, shining down upon the sleeping form of Maddie Rooney, captain and star of the Ridgewood High Girls' Basketball team. She stirred, unwilling to wake up just yet. She felt like going back to sleep for a million years. Her eyelids were cinder blocks. But, she knew she had to get up eventually, so, gathering all her strength, she threw off her blanket and leapt like a majestic tiger, pausing for a second to stand and stretch.

When she was finished, she noticed that her twin, Liv Rooney, famous actor and former star of Sing It Loud and Space Werewolves, was absent from her bed. She didn't think much of it; even though Liv being up before Maddie on a Saturday was odd. Shrugging it off and grabbing her glasses, Maddie slowly made her way downstairs, still clad in pajamas, to get some breakfast. In the kitchen, she found her mom, Karen, dressed in a light blue robe and making some eggs and bacon.

"Morning, sweetie," Karen greeted cheerfully.

"Ugh," Maddie replied, taking a seat at the table.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" her mom inquired.

"Just not feeling like talking this morning."

Maddie hadn't been feeling like talking much at all lately. Not since she broke up with her boyfriend Diggie. After he had returned from Tundrabania, he and Maddie just didn't seem to get along anymore. They started arguing over little things, Diggie "unintentionally" flirting with other girls, Maddie being hesitant to show public affection, both being stubborn and not saying anything when there's something the other is doing that annoys them, etc. Unfortunately, neither made much of an effort to patch things up. In the end, they both decided to go back to being friends.

Karen fixed her up a plate and set it before Maddie. "You know, there are a lot more fish in the sea. And a lot more bacon and eggs."

"Yeah," Maddie sighed, "but, I really thought me and Diggie had something special going on. If I couldn't get it right with him, who can I get it right with." Maddie looked down at her breakfast, depressed and heartbroken. For the first few days after breaking up with Diggie, she just ended up in her room, crying her eyes out like there was no tomorrow. Luckily for her, her friends and family helped her through that difficult time, especially her sister Liv.

Her sister had been very attentive to her emotional needs. Liv remained by her side the whole time, like a faithful canine, offering comfort and trying to cheer her up through whatever means she could think of. Loyal and caring, she even turned down a leading role in a movie to stay with Maddie. It reminded Maddie that she would feel truly lost in the world if Liv wasn't in her life.

Karen embraced her daughter in a bear like hug. "Aww, sweetie. There'll be lots of boys who you'll like and things just won't work out, but you'll find that one special person who you just can't stand to be without."

"Really?

"Really. But, make sure to hide him from your father or he'll probably make him run laps until he drops." Maddie and her mom chuckled; the laughter lightened the mood considerably. Seeing he job done, Karen went back to the stove, putting the finishing touches on breakfast before the other Rooneys were up and about. For her part, Maddie just focused on putting the whole Diggie matter in the back of her mind and enjoying the nice, hot food before her, feeling a bit better about things.

Just as Maddie was finished with her breakfast, the doorbell rang. Before her mom had a chance to get a word in edgewise, she went to go get, but when she opened the door, instead of a person, she found a pink envelope with her name neatly scrawled on it in cursive and a beautiful red rose on the welcome mat. She looked at the items for a minute, perplexed. She took a quick look around, finding no one who could have left her these. Finding no one in sight, she grabbed them and closed the door, noticing that the rose had no thorns. She headed back to the kitchen when her mom called her, asking who was at the door.

When she arrived, she found the entire Rooney clan, her parents, two younger brothers and Liv, gathered at the table for breakfast. Photogenic as always, Liv had a bright smile plastered on her face and was the only Rooney at the table not still in their sleepwear.

"Ooh, whatcha got, Maddie?" she said, pointing to the envelope and rose in Maddie's hands. Everyone's eyes were turned towards Maddie now.

"Oh, uh, just something someone left at the front door," Maddie tried to act like she thought it was nothing, but nobody believed her for a second and demanded she open it.

"Come on, Maddie. What is it?" Maddie's youngest brother, Parker, asked. Parker was arguably one of the weirdest people in the Rooney family, but he had competition to the tittle of weirdest when compared to his older brother, Joey. Together, they were definitely the weirdest of the bunch.

"Ooh, do you think it could be a treasure map?" Joey asked Parker. When the two of them got going, it usual meant trouble. And boy, did they ever get going. They just kept hounding Maddie to open the enveloped, hoping that she would cave.

Desiring to stop her annoying brothers, Maddie acquiesced. "Alright, alright already! I'll open it," she announced. Without a care in the world, she ripped open the envelope and found a piece of paper in it. On said paper was a poem, written neatly in ink:

Dearest Maddie,  
You make me so happy.

Talking to you,  
I never feel blue.

You are a warm summers day  
that chases all the clouds of gray away.

You are such a basketballer;  
I just wanna holler.

Maddie, you are beautiful  
and wonderful.

Sincerely,

your secret admirer,

A.B.C.

As Maddie read the poem out loud, she blushed a dark pink. No one had ever written her a love letter before, except for that one time when Liv wrote her one in elementary school, but that didn't count. She looked around at her family: Joey and Parker looked disappointed, Liv and her mom looked ecstatic, and her dad looked, well, concerned.

"Wow, Maddie!" Karen exclaimed. "What a lovely poem and a flower too." Maddie had almost forgotten about the flower in her other hand. "See. I told you there were plenty of fish in the sea."

"I'm not sure I like this fish," Maddie's dad, Pete, proclaimed. His wife immediately shot him a look.

"Come on, Pete. It's romantic."

"It's creepy. I oughta go find this guy and make him run laps 'til he drops."

"Well, it's Maddie's letter. Let's hear what she has to say."

They turned to look at Maddie, who was still surprised by the letter. Unable to come up with an intelligent response, she decided to make a break for it.

"Uh, I'm, um, gonna, uh, go to my room," she managed to get out before racing up the stairs. Her parents tried to talk to her, but, being the basketball player she is, she was gone before they knew it.

"I'll go talk to her," Liv told her parents. She then followed her sister up the stairs, a small smile tugging on her lips.

**A/N: So, this is the first chapter of a new story. Constructive criticism and offers for beta reading will be greatly appreciated. I'm haven't written in a a while, so I'm a little rusty. The poem for this chapter was original. The ones in the following probably won't be, and if so, I will have them marked as such with author's name and site I am getting it from. Thank you for reading. Have a nice day**


	2. Sister To Sister

**I present to you the sequel to the first chapter, the second chapter. Thank you all for your kind reviews and I'm sorry for how late this is; life unfortunately kept me busy. Enjoy and please review.**

Maddie sat on her bed, examining her gifts, the rose, fresh as a spring day, beautifully red, and thornless, and the card, on which rested the enchanting words she read earlier. Upon closing examination, Maddie noticed that the thorns had been very carefully removed and the areas where they were were covered by a green paint which matched the rest of the flower's stem, making it smooth from top to bottom. Shifting her focus to the card that had been in the envelope, she saw that it was covered by hearts and basketballs, a fitting touch for any gift for Maddie, and once again found the lovely poem written in impressively eye-catching cursive script.

Whoever gave her these knew her well, knew of her love of basketball and secret interest in poetry, and took their time to make them wonderfully fitting for Maddie.

Maddie couldn't help but smile, feeling flattered and joyful and becoming a little giddy, unable to wait to find out who sent her these.

_Who could it be?_ she wondered. She turned her head to the side a little, pondering the very question. There were no boys at school who seemed interested in her. Of course, Maddie couldn't even tell that Diggie like her. She considered the people close to her and her family. If it was Diggie, she would turn him down; she didn't want to be with him a second time. If it was Artie, her brother Joey's strange friend, . . . She shuddered at the thought.

Then she remembered something. One time, Liv had given her a secret admirer letter in the fourth grade to help her get over a boy. Liv was always there for her when she needed it, just like the last few weeks, so it would make sense. However, there was a part of her, a large part of her, that hoped it really was a letter from a secret admirer, not from her sister.

Speak of the devil, Liv, a smile growing on her face, knocked on the door and walked in on Maddie, who was deep in thought. When Maddie turned and saw her sister, she couldn't help, but smile back.

"So," Liv began, "you got a little something from someone. Congratulations, Maddie!"

"Did you do this?" Maddie asked, chuckling. If Liv did this, Maddie wouldn't feel angry in the slightest, but she couldn't help but hope there was someone else.

"Nope." Liv shook her head. "Not this time, Maddie. Its the real deal."

Simultaneously the two girls let out a big squeal, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Oh my god!" Maddie exclaimed disbelievingly. A real secret admirer, it seemed so unreal, but in a good way. She, Maddie Rooney, actually had someone chasing after her affection.

"So, any idea who it is?" Liv asked, wearing a smile that seemed to suggest something. Unfortunately, Maddie focused more on the question that Liv just asked, the one question that had vexed her, than the expression of her sister's face. But in any case, nothing put a damper on her mood.

"I have no idea, _but_," she said, stretching out the last word, "it must be someone close, someone who knows me and what I like."

_Someone closer than you think. Someone who knows you better than anyone ever could_.

"You don't have any idea who it could be, do you?" Maddie asked her sister.

"Diggie, maybe?" Liv suggested innocently.

"Ugh," Maddie groaned in response. "I really hope not. Or Artie either." Both sisters shuddered at the thought of Joey's creepy, stalkerish red headed friend being Maddie's admirer. Liv even more so, because of Artie obsession with her and subsequent violation of her personal space. Why she didn't get a restraining order for him confounded everyone, including Liv herself.

"Anyway," Liv changed the subject, looking a little nauseous, "It could be someone you never thought about _that_ way."

"Like who?" Maddie shot her twin a look of confusion.

"Hmm, I don't know."

"Well, whoever it is, I can't wait to find out." Maddie proclaimed, grinning like a maniac.

_Really?_

"I feel so . . . so . . ."

"Fantabulous!" Liv supplied, making Maddie burst into a fit of giggles. Liv's amazing ability to put together any two words to express an emotion or mood never ceased to impress Maddie. In fact, just about everything Liv did, whether it be acting or singing or passing her driving test the first time around, always made Maddie feel proud of her sister.

Her incredibly beautiful and amazingly talented sister who was always there for her no matter what. Ever since Liv returned from Hollywood, they've had plenty of differences and arguments, Liv interfering with Maddie's crush on Diggie, Maddie trying to get Liv to be friends with Ocean, Liv hiding Maddie's acceptance letter to the Junior Olympics, etc. But now, Maddie didn't know what she would do if they ever got separated for years on end like before.

As the giggles subsided, a comfortable silence fell over the siblings and Maddie took a few moments to look over her sister, admiring the talented and beautiful young woman that stood before her. Her flawless skin. Her vibrant hair. Her dazzling eyes. She must have lost herself in thought for a while, because she noticed that Liv was staring back at her, a goofy grin on her face.

"Do I got something on my face?" Maddie asked, breaking the silence and taking Liv out of her reverie.

"Huh?" Liv managed, confusion spreading over her facial features.

"Uh, you were staring," Maddie said matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Liv exclaimed, a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "Uh, well, I kinda got lost thinking about things," she explained quickly, throwing in a fake laugh to try to satisfy Maddie. She changed the subject just as quickly. "So, anyway, since you're not depressed anymore, why don't we go out today. We could go to the mall or catch a movie?"

Maddie eyed her sister for a second, just a little suspicious of Liv's strange behavior. In the end, she decided to drop it and relented to Liv's suggestion. "All right, fine. You know there's this movie I've been wanting to see and it's playing downtown. Let's go."

"Okee dokey!" Liv exclaimed, following Maddie down the stairs.

**Let me know what you think! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long!**


	3. Something Sweet

**A/N: Thank you, everyone, for your encouragement and your patience. Hopefully the wait didn't kill anyone!  
**

**Constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

* * *

As Maddie was walking into school Monday morning, expecting a normal day and nothing more, the sun was shining bright and the birds were chirping. The halls of Ridgewood were abuzz with chatting students, well rested from the long weekend, lethargically preparing for the day ahead while happily talking about their fun weekends with friends. Wearing a smile on her face reflecting her inner giddiness, Maddie couldn't wait to share her weekend surprise with her friend Willow.

Maddie had wanted to tell Willow right away about her secret admirer, but unfortunately, she had to wait until Willow returned from her week long camping trip with her parents. Luckily, Liv was available all weekend, so they talked and hung out together. Saturday, they went to the movies and saw this really bad romantic comedy. Or rather, they saw enough of it to make fun of it. They were almost asked to leave because of how loud they were laughing. Then Sunday, they lazed about the house and played some board games together like they did when they were kids. At the end, the score was six to one in Liv's favor. In spite of all the fun she had, Maddie was not very amused about losing. Especially to Liv.

This morning, Liv was nowhere to be seen, not even at breakfast. No one was sure where she was until she sent Maddie a text, saying she had to come to school early for something and had caught a ride from a friend. Needless to say, everyone was relieved.

Maddie finally arrived at her locker and opened it, revealing a surprise. In Maddie's locker was a basketball with a note on it. The note had the same elegant handwriting as the letter from the secret admirer and was also covered in hearts and basketball. Maddie was so excited she almost jumped with joy, but remembered where she was and tried not to draw too much attention to herself. The eager grin on her face didn't help with that at all.

She picked up the note and read it quietly to herself. On it was written:

Dearest Maddie,

Oh, it was such a great shame

when you couldn't feel the joy of the game.

You would always stand so tall

whenever you'd dribble that ball.

So I got something for you

From someone I knew.

To show you my love,

My little basketball dove.

Sincerely,

your secret admirer,

Admirer B. C.

Shifting focus, Maddie inspected the basketball, nearly dropping it from sheer shock. She couldn't believe her own eyes. For a second or two, she actually thought she was dreaming and would wake up any moment now. But she didn't.

Scrawled on the basketball were the words "Keep playing hard, Maddie" and a signature. The signature read Shaquille O'Neal.

To anyone not paying attention to Maddie, it seemed like an average Monday morning. To anyone paying attention to Maddie, it looked like she was having a heart attack. Her mouth was as wide open as the Grand Canyon and her knees looked like they were made out of gelatin. She involuntarily let out a loud, high-pitched squeal that could be heard all the way to India.

Maddie noticed the sudden silence in the halls and turned a little to see that everyone's attention was focused on her, making Maddie's face go red as a strawberry. After an embarrassingly awkward moment, they turned back to their business and left Maddie to hers. And just in time, Willow was making her way over.

"Hey, girl! What's up?" Maddie's closest friend, after Liv, greeted. Maddie knew she could always come to Willow for help. Even if Willow was obsessed with her brother Joey. Noticing the basketball and note in her hands, Willow asked Maddie about it.

"So, guess what!" Maddie started, excitement showing in her voice.

"What?" Willow asked, matching her friend's excitement. "Ooh, let me guess. Did you win the lottery."

"What? No." Maddie should have figured Willow would take such a wild guess.

"Ooh, is Joey going to ask me out?" Willow asked even more excitedly, a small squeal making its way into her voice, and doing a little bunny-like hop.

"Ha ha, no," Maddie giggled at her friend's silliness. She held up the contents of her hands. "I got a secret admirer!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah! And look at what he got me."

After looking at the note and the basketball, Willow let out a squeal of her own. "Wow, Maddie, this is amazing!"

"I know!" The two friends squealed and jumped up and down together, completely oblivious to the weird looks they were getting.

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" Willow inquired.

Maddie's smile faltered a little. She still couldn't figure out who it was from, not even with Liv's help. "Nope, not a clue. How about you?"

"Hmm," Willow hummed, pondering the question. After a few seconds of mulling it over, she gave up. "I don't know. Has anyone been trying to get close to you lately?"

"No, no one that I could think of," Maddie replied dejectedly. She hadn't been paying attention much to any boys since she and Diggie broke up. If she's noticed anyone at all lately, it was her sister, Liv. But, she already said that she wasn't Maddie's secret admirer and to think she was lying about that just sounded weird.

Before either girl could say anything more, the bell for first period went off. They grabbed their things and agreed to talk later.

* * *

Later that day...

Maddie and Willow were walking home from school, Maddie holding her gift in her hands.

"So, Willow, wanna come over to my house?" Maddie asked. Maddie was hoping she and Willow might be able to get to the bottom of the secret admirer mystery. At school, she ran into her parents and showed her the latest gift. Her mother was a little concerned that the secret admirer had been able to get into Maddie's locker, but her husband excitement at the gift overshadowed her worry. Maddie had never seen her dad so excited.

"Oh, sorry, Maddie. I can't," Willow replied. "I would. I really would, but I gotta help my parents unpack and then I got a bunch of homework to catch up on."

Maddie sighed. She really wanted to talk to Willow; she missed her friend so much.

"Can't you put it off another day?" Maddie pleaded.

"Sorry, Maddie. I gotta get going home," Willow apologized. "Bye! See ya tomorrow!"

Maddie said her goodbye as Willow left. A little less cheerful now, Maddie made her way to her own home. Giving it a second of thought, she decided to shoot some hoops for a few hours. When she went inside to drop off her backpack and get her usual basketball from her room, She found her twin sister sitting on the couch and a plate of cookies on the living room table.

"Hey, Maddie," Liv excitedly greeted. Before Maddie could say anything back, she offered Maddie the plate of cookies. "Here, try one."

Maddie eyed the cookies for a second, thinking it might be a trap. She couldn't remember the last time her sister would randomly bake something and give her some. Deciding to chance it, she shrugged and took one, taking a cautious bite out of it.

"Mm," Maddie hummed pleasurably. "Liv, this is so good. Did you make these?"

"Yup," Liv beamed, taking in her sister's compliment for all its worth. Liv had never really been much of a cook, but she had taken a home ec. class last semester. Apparently, she had passed with flying colors. "I just thought a Monday wouldn't be so bad if there were some sweets."

Maddie thanked her sister and reached for another cookie.

"Your welcome. By the way, anything interesting happen today?" Liv inquired.

Maddie excitedly shoved her autographed basketball at Liv, who barely caught. Liv took a few moments to examine it, noticing the message and who it was from. She shifted her focus back to Maddie, smiling.

"You know, I think I met him once."

Before she could say anything more, she was assaulted by a fanatic Maddie, excitedly spewing question after question. "What! Really? How come you never told me?"

"He guest starred on an episode of Sing It Loud," Liv explained, singing the title of her old TV show like she always does. "He was actually a really fun guy."

"Wow," Maddie said. She was in shock; she couldn't believe that she knew someone that knew Shaq. Trying to regain some composure, she took a deep breath.

While was calming down, Liv looked at her sister, giggling at Maddie's reaction. She had kind of expected this, but actually seeing it was something thing else. With loving eyes, Liv subconsciously stared Maddie, who was slowly starting to come back to reality from cloud nine.

"Hey, are you staring at me, again?"

Maddie's question broke the spell over Liv, who panicked a little, trying to form some sort of response with words.

"Uh...," she trailed off for a minute, while under her sister's scrutinizing gaze. She thought of something quickly. "Uhm, no. No, no, no, no," she babbled quickly. "I was just... thinking that I might have put a little too much flower in the cookies, heh."

Although Liv tried to pull off a convincing smile, Maddie wasn't going to fall for it. She had noticed that Liv was acting strange the last few days. She kept catching her staring out the corner of her eye, but hadn't said anything before. She was starting to worry that something was wrong with her sister.

After an awkward minute or two, Maddie decided to just leave it be for now, to wait to see if her sister wanted to talk, and took another one of Liv's cookies. Unknown to Maddie, Liv was relieved that Maddie dropped the matter.

"So," Liv began, shifting the subject matter, "any plans tonight?" Maddie shook her head, her mouth full of cookie. "Well, then would you like to watch that episode of _Sing It Loud_ with me?"

From the way Liv asked, Maddie could tell it was about more than just changing the subject. She almost wanted to question Liv again, but couldn't resist her sister's innocent request.

"Sure. Why not?"

* * *

**So, that was chapter 3. Long time in the works and not much to look at. I'll be honest with you guys. I'm not sure if I'll continue this story, so if this thing ever gets updated, I have no clue when it'll happen. Ciao!**


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